Investment News

KiwiSaver funds tilted to offshore markets picked up a performance boost over the three months to June 30 during a quarter where local markets lagged, according to the latest Melville Jessup Weaver (MJW) investment survey. The June quarter MJW report, authored by investment consultant William Nelson, says overall the three-month period “was a conventional risk-on… [Read More…]

The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) has flung the net wide to fill a new role as investment manager of the recently announced Climate Change Impact Fund. While the ACC would prefer candidates with hands-on experience “deploying capital”, the $50 billion fund would consider others with relevant skills from sectors such as “investment banking, corporate finance,… [Read More…]

Magellan boss Hamish Douglass has issued a ‘mea culpa’ for a couple of dud calls during the last 12 months while defending the manager’s long-term record. In an article titled ‘The importance of being rational’, Douglass also highlights “major risks that appear to be hiding in plain sight” including inflation and a bitcoin bubble destined… [Read More…]

The recovery of inflows into equity and other growth-orientated managed funds which started towards the end of last year has faltered, with the second-consecutive quarter of slower growth. According to the latest figures from Calastone, the global funds data network, net inflows for both Australian equities and Australian-domiciled global equities funds were, together, down about… [Read More…]

Factor-based investment pioneer Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) has released further detail on its new emerging markets sustainable fund for Australasian investors. As reported earlier in July, DFA had slated the launch of the Emerging Markets Sustainability Trust this month while also enhancing the environmental, social and governance (ESG) flavour of a fixed income offer. In… [Read More…]

New studies from two big-name consulting firms show the global funds industry struggled to increase profit margins in 2020 despite reporting bumper growth in assets under management (AUM). Reports from both EY and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) found double-digit expansion in global funds management AUM during 2020. The BCG study says AUM increased year-on-year… [Read More…]

The flow of money into ‘dedicated sustainable investing’ will accelerate over the next four years, with global assets hitting US$13 trillion (A$17.8 trillion) by 2050. But there are steep hurdles for fund managers hoping to take part. According to a study by Casey Quirk, a US-based Deloitte business, the four-fold predicted increase from the US$2.8… [Read More…]

ASB has joined AMP in the BlackRock camp, appointing the world’s largest fund manager to oversee its $20 billion investment book, including the $13.5 billion KiwiSaver scheme. This week AMP began to transition its home-branded diversified funds, worth an estimated $10 billion to BlackRock. In a statement this morning, ASB wealth head, Adam Boyd, said:… [Read More…]

The Community Trust sector has slammed a recent Otago University study as fundamentally flawed. It is understood the financial regulator has also been put on watch following the publication of the University of Otago paper produced in association with Simplicity that accused 11 community trusts of collectively “[destroying] $127.9 million in value” over the three… [Read More…]

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has issued a ‘Section 25’ notice to a range of regulated firms in a bid to flush out any unlicensed advisers operating under the new law. It is understood that the Section 25 notice – a strong information-gathering power available to the FMA in its governing legislation – has been… [Read More…]